Slow Food Des Moines Hosts “Competitive Potluck” This Weekend

Tomatoes_2013This Sunday, the Slow Food Des Moines group is hosting its 12th Annual All-Iowa Food Fest and “Competitive Potluck.”

So, first, what’s Slow Food?, you ask. Slow Food “link[s] the pleasures of the table with a commitment to protect the community, culture, knowledge and environment that make this pleasure possible.” The group’s motto is, “good, clean and fair food for all.”

An international movement with over 150,000 members in 150 countries, the considerably smaller Des Moines-area Slow Food group has been around for about 15 years.

Well, what about this Food Fest thing?

Previously open to Slow Food members only, this year the group is opening up the event to the food-loving public. We thought our readers might be interested in enjoying an end-of-summer gourmet picnic with like-minded local folks.

nectarinesThe details: More

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Flash Mob + Elegant Dining = FLASHDINE III

FlashdineDesMoinesFlashdine is a whimsical notion:

  1. Invite everyone you know to a bring-your-own-dinner dinner party. Ask them to invite their friends along.
  2. The location is secret; revealed only a few hours before the event.
  3. Institute a dress code: wear shorts and tees, or wear linen suits and ball gowns, but whatever you wear, your ensemble should be all white. (And your tablecloth/picnic blanket should be white, too, to complete the elegant tableau.)

That, in a nutshell, is Flashdine, Des Moines’ own version of Diner en Blanc (dinner in white), an elegant dining-meets flash mob event started in Paris twenty-five years ago.

The Des Moines edition of the “meticulously planned yet still spontaneous” dinner is relatively young — local farmer Larry Cleverley kicked off the tradition only a few years ago — but it’s already a favorite late-summer tradition for many Central Iowa foodies. More

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If We Could Turn Back TIme – Ingredients That ‘Fight Aging’

A couple customers stopped in over the past month to stock up on a variety of herbs and spices that they said a talk show host had recommended to “fight aging.”

Now, we’ll be the first to make this disclaimer: we sell culinary ingredients, not dietary supplements.

Ginger_and_CinnamonAnd if there was a magical elixir, in the form of an herb or spice, that turned back the clock of aging, you know the entire staff at AllSpice would look like college kids.  (And, with the exception of our actual college-aged staffers, Eva and Val, many of us stopped looking like college kids awhile ago).

But there are quite a few ingredients that, along with making your cooking taste delicious, have been shown to help fight disease, and even slow — or reverse — some of the effects that the inexolerable march of time (that is to say, aging) has on the body.

From Cinnamon and Cloves to Rosemary and Turmeric, many herbs and spices have health-boosting qualities. Here’s just a sampling of what we know, in no particular order:
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Des Moines Restaurant Week, 2013

Restaurant_Week_2013It’s that time of year again: Restaurant Week!

To get you acquainted with some new venues, or to remind you of some of your longtime favorites, thirty-nine restaurants in the Des Moines area are offering special $25 three-course dinners (or two lunches).

The restaurants include some of our East Village neighbors, like Hoq, Alba, and Open Sesame, and some of our culinary customers (like Baru 66).

You’ll find a complete list of participating restaurants and their special Restaurant Week menus here.

Restaurant Week 2013 runs through Sunday, August 25.

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All That August Has To Offer

Rory_Amy_State_FairAugust: It typically has the hottest weather of the whole summer. The Iowa State Fair. Back-to-school. Delicious locally-grown tomatoes (after the crazy weather we’ve been having, we can only hope!).

But for foodie types, August is also

  • National Peach Month
  • National Sandwich Month (as well as National Panini Month)
  • National Catfish Month
  • and National Brownies at Brunch Month.

There are a number of delicious (and at least one silly-bordering-on-obscene*) food holidays in August: More

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